The After Days
by ZJ Walden
Summary: [4/23:Ch2] Squall confesses his love for Rinoa, but she, in return flees. All the while, Garden is thrown into chaos, as it is attacked by an unknown force.
1. Enigma

[Disclaimer: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VIII, All Final Fantasy characters belong to Square/Squaresoft.]  
  
(Authors Notes: This story takes place exactly where the game cuts off, and this is going to be an extremely long fan fiction. At least that's what I have planned for it. I hope you enjoy, please review it, if you could. Please enjoy!)  
  
*  
  
Chapter I: Enigma  
  
The party was slowing down, as students retreated back to the comfort of their dorms. No longer could one hear Zell's cracks of laughter, or the high pitched squeals of glee from Selphie.  
  
He really didn't care, though; all he could think about was the sweet taste of his lover's kiss. He knew that he would never forget this night.  
  
Squall opened his eyes as Rinoa pulled away from him. He gazed into her beautiful eyes, spheres as blue as the ocean. Her auburn hair cascaded over her face. An image of perfection. A small smile crossed his face at the thought. He loved her so much.  
  
They gazed at each other, a moment that could not be described with words alone. Emotions pent up since the first time they'd met swelled inside of them, and finally burst freely out. The night breeze swept past them, and their hair danced together in the wind. It was if time had frozen for them, and the air about them was thick with emotion.  
  
A slow, soft melody began to play. Rinoa looked up at him; he realized her intentions, and was a bit nervous, but all in all it felt right. Surprisingly, he took her by the hand, and gracefully led her to the dance floor. A few couples were still around; balloons and streamers had been strewn about everywhere. Not wanting to be the center of attention, Squall casually stopped midway from the middle of the room.  
  
They fell into dance, it was so natural; their bodies fit together as they smoothly glided across the dance floor, in perfect synchronization.  
  
The slow song came gradually to a halt, and they found themselves in the middle of the dance floor, gazing into one another's eyes. Squall softly whispered three words, words she would never forget--and would cherish for eternity. "I love you."  
  
Rinoa looked down, tears of love streaming freely; but inside, her heart was wretched. Try as he might, Squall could not see her eyes behind the curtain of chocolate hair; all he saw was a single tear, which dropped down to scatter upon his newly polished dress boot.  
  
Suddenly, she turned and ran, hardly knowing why; she loved him so, and he loved her, but was she worth it? "I'm a sorceress; no one will ever understand... they'll hate Squall for it," she thought. She didn't know where she was running, until she had reached her destination: the dormitory.  
  
Squall stood and stared after her, the perfect warrior, alone, scared. Without her, he was nothing. And she just rejected me. A deep anguish welling up inside him, he walked dazedly off the platform and over to the balcony, gazing up at the stars. The pain was unbearable.  
  
He could not release the anguish that began to swell up inside of him, when just a moment ago he'd had her love, and now he had nothing. His pain was torturous, like a knife sinking slowly into his heart; the only thing that kept his agony from turning into rage was the fact that the pain ensnared him, paralyzed him, confused him; and he had no idea what to do. He could feel a strange pricking at the corners of his eyes. For the first time, in all the years he could remember, he didn't know what to do. Quietly, Squall cried.  
  
His eyes refocused after a moment as he noticed something approaching. Several large, narrow silhouettes were making their way across the ocean, aligning with the Garden. For a moment, he couldn't quite process what was happening; but it sunk in as soon as the objects began their voyage across the beach. He quickly turned around and ran into the ballroom. "Go to your dorms and tell everyone to assemble in the cafeteria, now!" he bellowed, loudly enough for everyone left in the room to hear him.  
  
They all scrambled out the door to pass along the order, unsure of Squall's reasons, but following the legendary SeeD's directive. After a moment, Squall himself took off for the top office, in order to speak with Nida about evasive movements, and to warn the rest of the crew what was going on.  
  
*  
  
"Missiles?!" Cid shouted in an outraged tone.  
  
"Yes. Nida is making evasive movements as we speak," Squall replied, more or less calmly. He had clearly regained some of his composure. It's not over yet, though, he scolded himself.  
  
But his heart sunk abruptly as he realized-- "Rinoa..." he whispered under his breath. He dashed down the hall towards the elevator.  
  
"Squall! Wait!" Quistis shouted hurriedly, but it was too late. "Rinoa!" he whispered as the elevator shaft opened and he exited onto the main floor. No one was in sight, which was good, but he cursed under his breath--he had no idea where Rinoa had gone. He thought for a moment, weighing possibilities, and finally decided to check the dormitories. He quickly made his way down the corridor. "She has to be here!" he said aloud, voice full of anticipation. Hastily he entered his security code into the door computer.  
  
The dormitory doors opened as he finished placing the code in. He quickly searched through her dorm, but found nothing. "Rinoa!" he shouted, but there was no reply--he frantically searched through the little apartment once again, but found nothing. "Dammit! This is all my fault, my fault!"  
  
Squall left the dormitory room, spirits crushed. I need to pick up my gunblade... he thought wearily to himself. He knew deep inside he couldn't just turn his back on the situation, and forsake everyone. He spun around and sprinted over to the SeeD dorm area.  
  
Arriving at his own room, he typed in his pass code. "You have now been verified. Please remember to lock up." The door opened and he made his way inside, picking up the dark silver-trimmed case that held his gunblade. He unlatched the locks on each side of the carrier, and took out the pulsating blue sword. In the past, he had usually stopped to admire the blade, but this time he quickly fastened it to his belt and made his way into his sleeping area.  
  
And it was there he stopped cold--because on his bed lay the one he'd been searching for. It looked as though she had cried herself to sleep. She lay there on her stomach, arms stretched out above her head. She looked so very vulnerable.  
  
The Garden shook violently, causing Squall to stumble. Although his composure still remained after the tremors, Rinoa had slumped and fallen off the bed. He quickly bent over and picked her up, pulling her onto his back, wrapping her arms over his shoulders, and pulling her feet up around his waist; securing them with his hands, he leaned forward slightly so she would not fall. She was still asleep; perhaps she had been knocked unconscious from hitting her head when she had toppled off the bed. He had very little time to worry, though; and with that thought, he rushed toward the elevator. Now that Rinoa was secure on his back, he wished to find out where the tremors had come from, see some damage assessments, and overall, find out the current status of the Garden.  
  
He reached the top floor and, exiting the elevator, Squall darted into the control room of the Garden. As he walked in, he noticed Nida was wearing a headset with a microphone, and everyone's heads were downcast. He set Rinoa on the couch and glanced around, suddenly noticing a missing face.  
  
"Where's Zell?!" Squall questioned.  
  
"He..." Quistis began, but burst into tears before she could finish.  
  
"..What?" Squall felt a tingle of apprehension, and suddenly feared for his friend's life. He had never openly admitted that he cared for anyone, besides Rinoa, of course; but he did.  
  
"Is he...?" Squall trailed off lamely.  
  
"Not yet." Irvine's voice was unsure, but steady as he spoke.  
  
"What do you mean? I don't understand what you're saying!" Squall was almost frantic now.  
  
"He had this crazy idea... We couldn't stop him..." Selphie volunteered, her voice breaking.  
  
"What idea?! Come on, out with it already!" shouted Squall.  
  
Everyone cowered back; they'd never seen Squall display such emotion before. He cursed himself bitterly for being so rude with them, but given the current situation, he thought he had a right to be angry.  
  
There was a soft groan from the couch, and he turned to face the hazy eyed Rinoa. She looked up, and gave him a small smile before passing out again. Selphie ran over and knelt by her side; unsure what was wrong, she comforted the other girl as best she could.  
  
"Zell decided to cliff ride on his T-board to intercept and disarm the threat." Squall heard the familiar voice of Cid Kramer behind him.  
  
"He...what?" Squall's tone was confused. Zell was sacrificing himself for the group... the immortal group of friends that had never once wavered, and had trusted each other in the Sorceress Wars. Why, Zell? was all Squall could think before he heard Nida shout over the microphone. "Get serious, Dincht!" Despite his concern, Squall fought to suppress a smile. That's Zell for you.  
  
Squall ran up to the top platform, pushing Nida out of the way and taking the headset.  
  
"Zell, this is Squall, can you hear me?" The SeeD commander's voice was firm, but at the same time worried.  
  
"Loud and clear!" Zell shouted, apparently having fun. But Squall knew better; he knew Zell was afraid. Anyone would be.  
  
Squall covered the microphone and glanced toward Nida.  
  
"What's the current status?" he questioned hastily.  
  
"Xu is in the cafeteria briefing everyone on our situation. The Garden has survived a wave of three projectiles, and mainly it's the training facility that's been damaged; other than that we're still operational. Zell has one shot to jump onto the projectile and disarm it... but after that, we don't know what he has planned." Nida's response sounded nervous.  
  
Squall looked away, and peered over the image before him; he saw the quickly approaching projectiles, and Zell racing for them. There were two side by side, which would mean there would be a split second after the deactivation of the first missile for Zell to jump to the next one.  
  
"Zell, do you have the target in your sights?"  
  
"Yup! I'll see ya soon, Squall my man." Zell's voice shook slightly, but his tone was cheerful.  
  
With that, Zell cut the connection. Squall heard static, and then nothing. 


	2. Close Encounters

[Disclaimer: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VIII, All Final Fantasy characters belong to Square/Squaresoft.]  
  
(Authors Notes: This story takes place exactly where the game cuts off, and this is going to be an extremely long fan fiction. At least that's what I have planned for it. I hope you enjoy, please review it, if you could, flames are welcome if they have a basis. Please enjoy!)  
  
* - denotes shifts in perspective, location, etc.,  
  
~ - denotes changing in time.  
  
  
  
*  
  
Chapter II: Close Encounter  
  
  
  
Zell took in a sharp intake of air as he flew past several different cliffs. He looked ahead, noticed his first target, and quickly began to ready himself. "Three...two...one!" Zell leaped from his T_board as its power shut off, and fell down the cliffs, about twenty feet below them. He latched his arms around the missile, and pulled himself on top of it. The heat was excruciating. "Who cares, I've been through worse," Zell thought to himself, trying to focus his mind on the objective before him.  
  
He opened the small panel on top of the projectile; swiftly studying it for a moment, he began to press a series of numbers and letters on the control terminal. It made a loud beeping noise, and he stood up, keeping his balance, jumping toward the next missile. "That was easy enough..." He murmured to himself in an almost inaudible voice. He was quickly brought back to the reality of the situation as he failed to clear the jump–he reached up instinctively, scrabbling for a grip on the projectile. He felt a soft metallic surface under his hands, and hurriedly tried to secure himself.  
  
Zell pulled himself up, despite the strain in his arms and his feverishly pounding heart. He took a deep breath, almost choking as the air rushed into his lungs. A large explosion was heard somewhere behind him, and he openly let a smirk play across his lips. "Damn, I'm good!"  
  
Shaking his head, he looked down at the panel. He tried to pull the latch off the top, and noticed it was jammed. "Oh, shit..."  
  
*  
  
"It looks like he's having trouble with the second one." Squall forced his worries from his mind and tried to concentrate on the situation at hand.  
  
"Nida, get over here, and move the Garden out of range as fast as you can. I don't think Zell can take care of the second missile," Squall said grimly.  
  
"Yes, right away!" Nida said, saluting, then quickly making his way up the ramp.  
  
"What? What's wrong?!" Quistis questioned, stifling a sob.  
  
"Seems like the panel latch is stuck," Squall explained. "If he doesn't neutralize the missile, it would be best if we were to take precautions to make sure the target doesn't find its mark." He ended, his voice trailing off at the end, lapsing into unspoken thought.  
  
*  
  
Zell quickly skimmed through his mind looking for different possibilities. The last remaining missile was quickly approaching the Garden, and he just happened to be on it. "Great..." he thought to himself. "From what I can tell, it looks like it's going to hit the near the control center." His mind began to light up with various different possibilities, but was soon cut short as he noticed he was around twenty meters away from the Garden. "Damn!" he shouted, his eyes opened wide, as his life flashed before his eyes.  
  
Without knowing what he was doing–the adrenaline inside his body was rushing far too much by now–he stood up and leaped as far and high as he could. He landed on a cold smooth surface, apparently the section just above the Garden Festival area. "I should be out of the blast zone, but I need something to hold onto!" Thoughts were coming rapidly now. Try as he might, he couldn't move much at all, and the more he tried, the more his body cringed in pain. He looked up from his location, and noticed a window rail just above him. In a desperate attempt, he put all his energy toward trying to reach the rail.  
  
There was a huge explosion under him, like nothing he had ever experienced before; the smooth metal was quickly beginning to heat up, and the Garden shook violently under him. Zell's body was tossed around like a doll, and suddenly he was thrown over the edge. He grabbed desperately at the rail, but it was gradually bending under his weight, and the strength of the tremors.  
  
*  
  
Squall groped for the railing that aligned along the side of the raised platform, as he tried to see through the thick darkness; the power had been cut off by the direct hit they had just received from the missile. The emergency lights began to activate, but it wasn't until five minutes later that they received the backup power for the emergency system. The Garden's backup lights were dim and did little to help see. Soon his eyes adjusted to the lighting, and he looked around the room that had once been the control center.  
  
It was torn upside down. He couldn't see all of his friends' forms, but he was worried, specifically about Rinoa. "Rinoa..!" he thought desperately to himself, as he made his way down the ramp to the lower section of the room. He stumbled over someone, heard a groan of pain, and looked down to see Irvine's prone form.  
  
"Irvine!? Help me get the others!" Squall shouted, apparently not caring about his emotional barriers at this moment.  
  
"Yeah, help me get up," Irvine said with an uncharacteristic seriousness. Squall noticed that Irvine's left leg was trapped under a large piece of sheet metal.  
  
"Right," he mumbled under his breath, bending down he and getting a firm grip on the object.  
  
"One, two, three!" Squall pulled up as hard as he could, and Irvine swiftly removed his leg from beneath the metal.  
  
They began to search through the room for the rest of the group, and soon discovered Quistis. She lay limp and unconscious on the ground, blood dripping from the right side of her head. Irvine carefully picked her up and put her over his shoulder, not skipping a beat as he continued to search through the mass of rubble that had once been the most decorated office in the whole Garden.  
  
Soon after the discovery of Quistis, they spotted Selphie's frail form, and next beside her Rinoa, who was still half-cradled in Selphie's embrace. Squall quicky went over and picked her up, carrying her in front of him. Irvine picked up Selphie, and placed her over his other shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, just leave me with all the hard work," Irvine said, obvious trying to lighten up the mood.  
  
Squall shot Irvine a look that could kill.  
  
"I was just joking, man." Irvine retreated back to his serious tone, not wishing to provoke Squall.  
  
"Let's go find Zell," Squall began, "or at least his remains." Squall finished with a deathly serious tone.  
  
"I'm right behind you."  
  
*  
  
Zell awoke with a start. He tried to sit up, but pain overwhelmed his body. When he breathed, he felt an uncomfortable pang in his chest, which he suspected to be a few broken ribs. Trying a second time, he managed to pull himself into an upright position. He clenched his teeth in pain as he examined his surroundings.  
  
"I must've pulled myself up on the window railing," he murmured to himself, looking around. Quickly he turned his thoughts to the task at hand, and tried to stand up. He only made if halfway there before stumbling, falling to his knees, and collapsing face first against the metal as he lapsed into unconsciousness.  
  
*  
  
"Irvine, any sign of Zell?" Squall inquired.  
  
"Not yet; still looking. I'm about to head up to the railings on top of Garden. There's not too many places left that he could be at." With that, Irvine walked off, climbing through the rubble to return to the control center.  
  
"This isn't looking good," Squall remarked to himself as he watched Irvine go. 


End file.
